Apologies in advance if this has been asked already but I searched and couldn't find anything.

Anyway, my XJ wouldn't start yesterday, wouldn't even crank and after I verified the battery cables were tight I figured the next thing to check would be the starter. I gave if a few good whacks with a wrench and sure enough, she fired right up.

I've never had good luck with NAPA or AutoZone parts with my Cummins but I'm not sure how they are with Jeep stuff. Is there a preferred brand starter that is better than others or will a parts store special do fine?

I'm aware I could probably rebuild the starter for cheaper than buying a new one but since this is a relatively new vehicle to me I'd rather put a known quality part on it and then rebuild it if it ever fails after that.

Thanks in advance.

 

I had the same problem in my '00. Went to start it one day. Nothing. Little love tap. Vroom. When it happened a second time I said screw it. New Napa starter. 4N6796. Pricey. Almost 3 years ago now. No problems to date. Lifetime warranty.

 

Be sure to fix the oil leak that probably saturated your starter.

 

That's what kills 90% of them for sure. As far as brands about any will work on the 4.0 well.

 

I replaced mine with one from the auto parts store with a lifetime warranty. It failed within about eight months. Even though it had a lifetime warranty, I didn't like that it failed so soon as it seemed to imply I'd be replacing my starter more often than necessary. So I opted to get the Mopar starter and I've had no issues since. In fact, the engine even starts sooner, too.

 

If you have a decent auto electrics shop in your area you can get your starter rebuilt. The parts-store rebuilds can be a real crap shoot. (Yeah, they'll give you a "lifetime" warrantee, but who wants to spend their lives reinstalling starters?)

 

I went with the Advance Auto carquest reman. Use an online coupon for 30-40% off. Normally I am leary of parts store starters but pulled the trigger after reading the positive reviews on their website. I immediately noticed increased cranking speed over the original, but I only have 6,000 miles on it so far with no issues.

 

The One with a lifetime warranty.Also man don't buy one for a 2000,but one for a 95.Its way cheaper and its the same starter.Only difference is the connector plugin.

 

Test your solenoid before replacing the whole starter. Lot cheaper and easily checked with volt meter. When hitting starter you are moving the plunger in the solenoid too. The plunger slides the coils in a solenoid, and can go bad causing no power to move through it to the starter.

 

If you can afford it go Mopar. Otherwise I like Napa.

 

Yeah, get an old MOPAR core and rebuild it.

Rebuilding a starter, or even an alternator is not that big of a task.

Many of my friends ALWAYS rebuild what they have in the vehicle...... of course if you owned a vintage/antique Corvette ..... you'd want to keep it all original as well.

I know on Corvette owner who goes and watches them rebuild his part to insure he leaves with the core he brought in ..... pretty extreme but his '63 split window is 100% original ....... even has original paint.

 

I've had luck with any acdelco parts, new or rebuilt. no luck with cardone, duralast, denso. My last starter was a new acdelco, same price as rebuilt, 3 years ago. First new part I ever bought online. Napa and Mopar are waaaaaay overpriced for me.

 

Anything you get at the autoparts store will most likely be REMANUFACTURED. I would rather have brand new... Amazon sells a brand new one for half the price of the cheapest i found at advanced autoparts. It sounds a little funky for the first 100 startsups. then it starts to sound like the OEM. plenty of power and it appeared to be well built. only had it on for about 1000 miles however. everything was direct bolt on/plug and play with my 99 XJ

 

I'm looking at the Amazon starter myself. Even with my commercial account discount the reman at O'Reilly is more than double the cost of the Amazon new one. If you could post an update I'd really appreciate it

 

OE Factory Mopar one used to be made by Mitsubishi Japan, they now are made by TYC Taiwan. TYC aftermarket are good and Amazon/RockAuto cheap.